Magnets
by davestridersjunk
Summary: My main priority was Granger, although that was weird to think to myself. I didn't mean to be sexist- but she was probably the weakest and couldn't handle Crucio as well as the Weasel or Potter. A story in which Draco saves Hermione from Malfoy Manor.


**Disclaimer: **The wonderful J.K Rowling owns Harry Potter, and I do not.

**A/N: **Probably one of my longest one-shots. Please enjoy!

* * *

**Draco P.O.V**

As I was left alone with my own thoughts, I couldn't help but think: When had it all gotten this fucked up?

And not just 'When had Voldemort's parents been crazy enough to make an abomination of a child?"

When had some idiot person thought it was acceptable to want to kill another? Was it something that was simply in their blood, like a disease you could not cure, or was it mental? Did he crave the knowledge that he'd killed a human being, or did he just enjoy power? Had the first murder happened years ago, or was this a recent thing?

Either way, it was severely_ fucked_ up.

I rarely wanted to be alone with my own thoughts; I tried to think of happy things, but they just spiralled into bad thoughts. Would I ever be happy again? Would I ever smile again? Would my parents smile?

As I thought of them, I looked up at them, bargaining again to get me out of getting the Dark Mark. They didn't want me to get it, and I didn't want to get it either. I was thankful for my parents when it came to deals like this; they were usually successful, but I had a feeling that this time, we'd be unsuccessful.

My suspicions were confirmed as they turned to look at me with a pitying glance. My heart dropped into my stomach and I wanted to fall onto my knees and cry, but I didn't. My face remained stoic as my future was laid out before me, nobody even giving me an option.

People thought I was a bad person, but I wasn't. I was a normal person who'd only been born to serve one purpose.

I thought, briefly, of the proposition that Dumbledore had given me earlier on that day. I looked up at my parents again, wondering silently if what Dumbledore had promised me was legitimate. _Would we all be protected from Voldemort?_

I shook my head, ridding myself of the thought. For all I knew, Voldemort was_ listening_ to my thoughts.

Plus Dumbledore was so close to Potter that he'd probably let him know if I stepped down from becoming a Death Eater, and then I'd never live it down. Sometimes I really disliked being such a coward…

"Draco," My aunt grinned at me. I wondered what sneaky prank she had up her sleeve this time, but her grin shouted 'malicious' and not 'funny.' I didn't want it to, but my heart sped up, coating itself with fear.

"Yes?" I asked her. You wouldn't think we were related, the way that we spoke to her, but we were, unfortunately. Even as a boy I had to call my parents 'Father' and 'Mother' – I had no choice to call them 'mum' or 'dad.'

"Your assistance is required," Bellatrix whispered, her eyes flitting towards my Fathers. I frowned, wondering what he knew that I didn't, before I stood up and followed her.

Before I could even make it out the door, three figures were shoved past me by snatchers. I stumbled into the wall beside the door, wondering why snatchers were so bloody high up that they couldn't even say _excuse me_. Arseholes.

I recognised Greyback, but he held two people in a head lock and I couldn't see past his forearms to see who it really was. It looked like two girls, or a girl and a boy.

The next thing I knew, my gaze was tore away from them when my aunt spoke. She was kneeling beside someone and I looked away immediately; any hope from my body had completely vanished.

It was Potter. I could tell- I would say that anybody could tell, but it was clear that everyone else in the room couldn't tell since they'd asked me to confirm it. I realised then that the two people Greyback was holding was probably Granger and Weasley.

This was a moment that could define me: I could tell the truth and live in a cold, dark world as Harry Potter was killed, or I could _be_ killed myself. Or, I could lie and say that I didn't know who it was- which could gain me and my name some respect. But if I was caught lying, I'd be dead quicker than I could say the Avada myself.

Instead, I settled for being vague. "What's wrong with his face?" I asked.

I knew what was wrong with his face. Someone had cast a stinging jinx onto him, hoping to disguise him. Most likely Granger, she was always the best at spells. Stupid girl, they'd take her wand and check what spell she last used.

If I'd had the time, I would've prevented that from happening.

"Yes, what is wrong with his face?" Bellatrix asked. "Was it you, dear?"

She taunted Granger intentionally. We all knew fine well that it was her- just by looking at Weasley you could tell that he wasn't the best at spells.

I looked back at Potter, debating on what to do. Did I want to live or die, or did I want to live (in a better life, but not much better) or die?

I had to admit, it was a tough choice.

"I can't be sure if it's him," I said. Nobody could kill me for that, could they? Not even Potter.

"Just take a closer look, Draco!" My father scolded. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at him and stared intently at Potter's scar- there was no way you could fake that. It was definitely him, but how could I convince them that it wasn't?

"It's probably just some idiots playing dress up. You know that people will do anything to get inside stories on this? It could just be some sort of publisher for the daily prophet. I wouldn't look too much into it. This bloke doesn't look retarded enough to be Potter," I said. My mouth lifted into a sneer almost automatically as soon as I put that tone on my voice. I almost snorted; at least I was used to it now.

Bellatrix sighed, obviously disappointed and walked up to Greyback and the two figures. I had just realised that they were in the room! What if they found out through them that it was really the Golden Trio? I'd be burnt fucking French toast.

My main priority was Granger, although that was weird to think to myself. She was a girl, woman, whatever you wanted to call her. I didn't mean to be sexist, but she was probably the weakest and I doubted she could take the Crucio as well as the weasel or Potter. Therefore, she'd be my first to save if anything happened.

I suppose it's just how I think, as a man now. I always have priorities when I step into a room now. What I'd do if there was a fire, what I'd do if someone was being bullied- everything had changed, and I didn't know why. Was it just part of growing up, or was it something else?

Anyway, the tiny little woman became my priority, but part of me hoped that the weasel wouldn't be offended, not that I cared what he thought of me.

"What about these two?" Bellatrix had asked two minutes ago.

I probably looked like an idiot, just standing there thinking, so I spoke up. "Definitely not," I half-chuckled. "I mean, Granger's hair has never been that stable,"

My father laughed behind me and I felt disgusted that he was proud of me for bullying someone, and not proud of me for getting good grades. He'd never been proud of me unless I'd done something evil. It sucked.

"So we can just kill this one?"

So, my plan had most definitely backfired then.

"No!" I shouted quickly. All eyes turned to me, and I burned underneath their stares. "I mean, it could just be some twelve year old child who's messed with Polyjuice potion,"

I got frowned at, but they looked at Granger again, actually considering my words.

My father shrugged. "Well, we can ask Snape when he gets here with Voldemort,"

My heart beat faster and my palms got sweaty. They were going to call Voldemort, even though I'd tried to say it wasn't them?

"What will he do to them?" I asked, trying to feign curiosity and interest. My father looked at me with glee, as if he was happy to be teaching me about the darkness of the Wizarding world. He really made me sick sometimes, why did I even want him to be protected by Dumbledore? My mother should've taken me and ran years ago. We'd be better without him.

"Probably Crucio, maybe the Imperius, and then the Avada,"

I had to think, fast.

"Why, did you want to finally test out your own Crucio?" My father asked, looking down on me proudly.

I didn't know why, but my eyes immediately flicked towards Granger, almost as if I didn't want her to know that I'd been taught the Crucio, almost as if I was ashamed. She didn't look back at me, her eyes were flitting all over the room and I just knew her mind would be reeling with an escape route.

I swallowed. "Um, no… just asking,"

"Well, it was a good suggestion, maybe you should Crucio them this time, you never do it, Draco," Bellatrix butted in.

"Yes, but-"

"I mean, you haven't done it since that muggle girl was brought in, I never did find out why you ran off after that,"

"That's enough," My mother butted in. Something in my stomach seemed to calm down once she took over. She was the one who found me hyperventilating after I'd Crucio'd the muggle girl- she promised not to tell anyone.

"All this waiting is boring," Bellatrix commented with a dramatic yawn. She ordered, with a nod of her head, Greyback to let go of Granger and Weasley and then cast a curse at them which bound Weasley by ropes. My father seemed to follow her train of thought and grabbed Potter, hauling him up from the floor. Bellatrix cast another curse and bound Potter to Weasley, so that they couldn't move without falling over.

"Take those into the cellar," Bellatrix said lazily to Greyback.

The werewolf said no words as he picked up the two boys with ease, taking them downstairs. I thought I'd done something good- I thought they'd free her, but they didn't.

"I want to have a chat with this one," Bellatrix said, walking slowly up to Granger. Whatever had calmed in my stomach was protesting again. I almost felt pregnant- having things moving around in my stomach. I frowned at my own thoughts, where the fuck had I come up with that?

I had way too much time to think.

"Aren't you putting her in the cellar?" I asked loudly. All eyes, again, turned to me and I sighed in annoyance.

Why, when I specifically spoke to one person, did everyone fucking turn around and stare at me? Nosy bastards.

"What good would that do? Might as well have fun with the muggle until Voldemort gets here, he won't miss this one," Bellatrix said menacingly. My eyes went wide.

"She's not a muggle!" I shouted.

In a moment, I was surrounded, half of the snatchers with their wands out. What the fuck? What had I said?

"How would you know that, though? You said you didn't know who she was," Bellatrix said. She looked as if she'd known of my lies from the beginning but was just happy that I'd finally been caught out.

I swallowed down my fear. "No, I said I didn't think it was Granger," I said bravely. My mother put a hand on my shoulder and stepped in front of me, almost as if she was protecting me.

"Look, he doesn't know her. Please just stop including him with things like this," She said, pulling my arm. I think her intention was to get me out of there, but I had a strange feeling inside myself. I didn't want to leave her inside here with them. Who knows what would happen.

I stood still, despite my mother trying to deftly pull my arm. I watched Bellatrix and Granger with what probably looked like hunger or interest, but it was none of those things. I was thinking of a way to save her- to keep her life.

Granger moved away from the wall, not wanting to be backed up into a corner and circled around Bellatrix, but she turned around and faced her once again. Granger was in front of me now, but on my right, where Bella had been at first.

"So, who are you then?" Bella asked.

_Please lie, please lie, please lie._

"Penelope Clearwater," She said clearly. It was the first time that she'd spoke.

Bella smiled before she moved in closer to Granger- I almost thought they were going to kiss, but then my aunt whispered tauntingly,

"Liar,"

Granger visibly tensed up and I wished silently that I was the only one who'd noticed it.

I wasn't.

"She _is_ lying," My father said, taking his place in the whole thing. He moved forward, in front of Granger too, and inspected her. He was frowning, as if he was doing a crossword puzzle, but then he smiled.

"I know I met you almost 5 years ago, but your face hasn't changed, Miss Granger,"

She swallowed, and I knew she was fucked.

"I'm sorry?" She feigned innocence.

Bad move.

Bellatrix slapped her across the face, fury lighting up in her eyes like fireworks. She didn't take it well, being taken for an idiot.

I winced, but Granger done nothing.

Bellatrix grabbed her up by the scruff of her neck and pushed her towards me. I tried not to look into her eyes, I truly didn't, but I was like a magnet towards her, and I couldn't refuse what my own body wanted.

She was completely emotionless towards me, and I knew why. I hadn't helped them.

"You told me it wasn't her," Bellatrix screamed.

"I don't think it is," I said, trying to back myself up.

"It _is_ though, Draco, look at her face, you can tell," My father whispered into my ear. When the hell had he walked behind me?

"It's not her face." I said firmly.

"And how would you know?" A snatcher called. I frowned at him; he was not one to question me.

"I think I'd know after looking at her face for seven years, don't you?" I said snidely. I moved my sneer from the snatcher onto Bella and she looked shocked.

"It's not. Her." I said.

Bellatrix squinted, almost as if she was trying to read my mind and I instantly backed away, as if trying to protect myself.

Bellatrix shrugged and threw her on the floor in front of me.

"We can still have fun with it,"

Lucius smirked and drew his wand. I sighed, my heart dropping. I wish that I could speak to her now, I truly did.

_I tried, I tried, and I tried to save you…_

I closed my eyes over. If someone was going to die in front of me, the last person that I wanted it to be was _her_.

"No," Bellatrix suddenly spoke up. My eyes opened quickly and I looked at her expectantly, as did everyone else. Her gaze left my father and turned to me.

"Get your wand out," She said, smirking. I knew what she was doing- she was going to make _me_ torture her, for giving her the "wrong" information.

I got my wand out reluctantly and for the first time, something akin to fear and disappointment flashed through Granger's eyes. My heart lowered- I didn't know why, but I felt ashamed and embarrassed of my life choices in front of her, even if they weren't exactly my "choices"…

She closed her eyes over and shook her head slightly, as if she'd known all along that I'd become this person. She looked away as if she couldn't bear the sight of me and something squeezed inside my chest that puzzled me.

Greyback walked back up now, still silent. Everyone looked at him as he walked back up the stairs and into the room, and I was grateful to him for being a distraction, but then they all turned back to me.

"What d'you want me to do?" I asked calmly, pointing my wand at her chest.

"Whatever you want," Aunt Bella said to me.

I motioned for some space and everyone moved back a few steps, way out of earshot. Some even took seats to watch what I'd do to her.

I knelt beside her, accidentally standing on her hair at first and tried not to flinch- that would've hurt. I mentally apologised.

I crawled on top of her (it would be the closest place to her ear) and began to whisper into her ear with a grin on my face. It was evil to the outsiders, but it was all a façade.

"Scream," I whispered to her. She frowned in puzzlement before I shoved the point of my wand into her forearm and said 'Crucio,' she felt no pain.

She breathed heavily out of anger and Bellatrix found this amusing.

"She's trying not to scream for us- nobody can resist the Crucio, sweetheart, stop the nonsense and give us a show," She said.

She seemed to catch on –thank God- and I muttered another Crucio, wincing when her screams ripped out my middle ear bones and then crushed them in her hand.

Even though it wasn't real, I still felt something close to… regret and sadness.

I shrugged off the feeling, deciding that I felt like that every day anyways.

"Please," She whimpered.

She was a rather good actress.

"Sorry," I smirked evilly. "Can't,"

I stood up now, having no more need for being on top of her. It was awkward for both of us.

I pointed my wand at her again, shouting 'Crucio.'

She screamed and I smirked, twisting my wand, trying to act as if it wasn't fake, but it was surprisingly hard.

She twisted and turned and jerked on the floor as if in real pain and I thanked God that she'd caught onto my plan.

I acted like the spell ended and done it again, getting used to the act.

But this time, it was different.

She screamed like she never had before; the piercing sound almost shattering every single one of the windows and the chandelier. The twists and jerks turned into real shivering of her own body and my eyes went wide. I had accidentally cursed her.

I hated myself immediately. That had never been my intention.

"Please! Draco, stop!"

But I couldn't stop when she asked me to, not now. They'd know, and we'd both be better off dead.

"PLEASE! DRACO!"

My heart thumped loudly in my own ears and I shivered, finally ending the spell. I stood on the spot, mesmerised, unable to even comprehend what I'd just done.

I couldn't handle the guilt, so with my own wandless magic, I used Legilimens on her and swam into her mind.

I found a ball of conscious thought and floated towards it, trying to ignore the phrases 'I hate him,'

They hurt.

"Hermione, there's another presence in your mind, don't think of anything," She ordered herself.

"I'm sorry," I said quickly.

There was an audible intake of breath outside of our charm and I quickly placed a mental soothing charm on her mind, so that she couldn't feel the after-effects of the Crucio.

I floated back out of her mind and into my own body, thanking silently that it was too quick for people to even realise what had happened.

"My turn now!" Bellatrix said excitedly.

I had no excuses this time, but I hoped that the mental soothing charm would free her of any pain.

I occupied the chair that Bellatrix had previously been in and looked away, over at the door she'd come in, trying to ignore the sound of piercing screams.

Those screams would haunt my dreams. They already did.

When I finally turned around to look at her, I frowned confusedly.

My Aunt Bella looked like she was biting her neck- was she some kind of vampire? But then she pulled away, and I realised that she'd done something to her forearm, not her neck.

I stretched her neck, trying to see what she'd done, but it was concealed by most of her black hair.

Then, I stiffened noticeably as Bellatrix stood up to let my Father have his turn.

"Mudblood," was engraved into her arm. She was crying now and I wanted nothing more than to take her away from everything.

"I think everyone should give us a little privacy for my surprise," My Father said. I frowned, looking up at him. He smirked down at Granger like she was some sort of food and bile rose in my throat.

"What?!" My mother disagreed. "No, I will _not_ be cheated on!"

My eyes flicked back to my father. Cheated on? What…? What was going to happen?

"It's not cheating, it's the Mudblood," He laughed.

I frowned, still not catching exactly what was going on.

"Well, fine, you can stay if you want to," He said, before he took off his jacket.

The situation crossed my mind, but before I could even comprehend it, I'd already said too much.

"No!" I shouted, rising quickly from my seat. My father turned around to stare at me, but thankfully, everyone else had left except from my mother.

"What?" Lucius frowned at me. "I've done this a million times, Draco, it's nothing to be scared of,"

"Yes it is!" I shouted. "She's scared," I said, pointing to Hermione.

"So? She deserves to be scared, she deserves everything that's going to happen to her, and she's a _Mudblood._ Don't you dare go against me, Draco,"

I shook my head. How could someone _deserve_ to be _raped_?! That was bloody insane!

My mother watched on curiously.

"I _am_ going against you. Raping is a muggle act, yet you're supposed to be _against_ muggle's. You're such a contradicting bastard!" I shouted at him.

Hermione seemed to come around right about now, and she looked up at me with wide eyes, watching the scene.

"No son of mine will talk to me that way!" He shouted at me. I frowned at him and moved towards Granger, preparing to grab her whenever I could. I was at an advantage since there were only four of us in the room.

Another plan flashed in my mind and I knew that my mother wouldn't do anything, so I finally done the right thing.

"Stupefy!" I shouted at him, raising my wand to his chest. I quickly took hold of Granger's shoulder and apparated, taking us to the first place I thought of.

* * *

Ice laced the river beneath our feet and I quickly steadied Granger until she was sitting by herself on the edge of the dock. I kept one hand behind her back in case anything happened.

I couldn't believe that I'd finally done it. Now I felt like, if I did die, at least I was finally on the light side.

"Thank you," She said to me, hugging her arms. She didn't have a jacket on, so I shrugged off my suit jacket and laid it over her shoulders, thinking she was cold.

"I'm so sorry," I apologised again. I was still numb from _actually_ cursing her. She shook, still trying to reject the aftershocks of the curses and then her eyes went wide.

"Harry and Ron! I've-I've got to get back!" She threw off my jacket and clambered up onto the dock, preparing to apparate, I assume.

"You can't apparate, you're hurt. They'll be fine, trust me," I said to her. She looked at me for a moment, as if contemplating something, and then sat back down beside me, her feet too small to touch the icy water.

"Why did you help me?" She asked. I almost burned with embarrassment- why _did_ I save her?

Was it because I felt guilty? Pity? Was I secretly in love with her?

"It was the right thing to do," I said quietly. I had never wanted to admit that the light side was the right side, and admitting it in front of her was especially embarrassing.

She put a hand to her head and winced. I suppose my soothing charm had finally worn off.

"Will you get into trouble for this?" She asked. I was touched at her concern, but then I remembered that she probably wasn't concerned for me- she was just concerned for everyone, because she was a nice person.

I snorted. "Trouble isn't even the word to describe what'll happen to me because of this,"

She looked me up and down and my body felt weird under her stare. I was suddenly aware of what she thought of me, and I wished it was good.

"The Order can provide you with protection, you know," She said.

I shook my head. "I'm already going to go to someone for protection," I said, remembering Dumbledore's offer.

"May I ask who?" She asked, wincing again at the pain in her head. I turned to look at her, to see if she'd be able to handle the pain for a little longer, but there were tears in her eyes, so I cast the soothing charm on her again.

"Thanks for that," She said. "I definitely need to learn that one," She smiled. Trust Granger to forever be the optimistic Gryffindor.

"No problem. Dumbledore, he offered me protection, but I declined. He said the offer was still open though- if I ever decided to change my mind,"

She nodded, tightening my jacket around her.

It was silent for a few minutes and I admired the scenery before she spoke up again.

"Thank you," She said quietly. "I know that you didn't need to do that for us, but I appreciate it. Harry and Ron will too,"

I severely doubted that they'd appreciate it, but I nodded anyways.

"I owe you one," She said.

I wanted to keep her to it- expect something from her for saving her life, but I didn't.

"Well, there's no question about it, is there? If someone's in trouble, you do what you can to save them. You don't join in,"

"Draco," She began.

My name coming from her mouth sent shivers down my spine and I wondered, for a brief moment, if I was okay with her using my name. It sounded too weird after being called 'Malfoy' for years.

I turned to look at her, and she was looking at me with such admiration that I actually felt proud of myself. Slowly, she smiled and put her hand on top of mine, making my skin tingle.

"I'm glad you've finally seen the light," She said.

I twisted my hand, so that hers was beneath mine and attempted to smile back at her after all that had just happened.

"Me too, Hermione."

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed! **

**I got this idea when I was having my eyes tested (Ideas for stories always come to you in the weirdest ways, don't they?) and it wouldn't leave me alone until I finally wrote it down, so here it is!**

**If you find any grammatical errors then please let me know! **

**-FallenForTheDraco**


End file.
